Round The States

New Delhi, 3 March 2011

Andhra Aflame

Telangana Issue Rocks Centre

By Insaf

The imbroglio over the creation of Telangana continues to rock Andhra and the Centre. Led by the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, Telugu Desam and the BJP, the State was not only paralyzed by a 12-hour rail roko leading to cancellation of 100 trains, inconveniencing thousands of passengers and an over Rs 9 crore loss to the South Central Railway. But also the ‘non-cooperation movement’ by Telangana employees in the State Government have paid put to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy's 100-day plan to improve civic amenities in Hyderabad. Worse, over as 99 MLAs from the ruling Congress and Opposition from Telangana have announced "boycott" of the remaining Budget Session of Andhra Pradesh Assembly to press for their demand for statehood. Its reverberation echoed in both Houses of Parliament too when Telangana protagonists stalled proceedings. Will the Centre heed?

*                                               *                                        *                                               *

Tale Of Two Reports In Karnataka

Bad news continues to dodge the first BJP Government in Karnataka. The latest is the controversy over two reports on the vandalisation of 37 churches in Mangalore, Udupi and Kalladka over a year back. While the State Government-instituted Inquiry Commission  headed by ex-Karnataka High Court  Justice Somasekhara exonerated the BJP Government, Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sene for perpetrating these attacks and not protecting the interests of the minority Christians. Another parallel fact-finding Commission, set-up by the Christians and headed by another former High Court Judge Michael Saldanha squarely blames the Karnataka Government for the violence. It remains to be seen which of these reports will be considered the true version.

*                                               *                                        *                                               *

Congress-DMK Deadlock Over Seats

The DMK and Congress in Tamil Nadu are busy playing the who-will-blink-first game over seat-sharing in Tamil Nadu. With Assembly elections on 13 April and less than 15 days left for filing of nominations to begin, so far both Parties have failed to break the logjam. A dis-satisfied Party High Command emissary Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has returned from Chennai after his talks with DMK supremo Karunanidhi failed. While the DMK has offered the Congress 48 seats in a 234 Assembly as in 2006, the Party reportedly wants 80 seats along-with a share in power if the alliance is voted back to power. Meanwhile, the DMK has completed the seat sharing exercise with minor allies like the PMK, VCK, Indian Union Muslim League and MMK. All eyes are what Karunanidhi offers next.

*                                               *                                        *                                               *

Flying Squads For Assam

Election-bound Assam is all set to get 10 'flying squads' in all districts to monitor the expenditure of all Parties and prevent the practice of bribing voters. Deputed by the Election Commission, these squads headed by a magistrate have the power to file FIRs and seize 'bribe' material including cash. This is not all. According to a new Election Commission mechanism, Static Surveillance Teams are being granted the power to search candidates, Party leaders and their vehicles to ensure that candidates and Parties do not flout the model code of conduct. So serious is the Commission to make poll truly free and fair, that the squads will be equipped with video surveillance teams, video viewing teams, accounting teams and expenditure monitoring teams. Needless to say, a candidate would now need to play straight!

*                                               *                                        *                                               *

Rajasthan’s ‘Adulterated’ Deaths

The No.13 has proved to be unlucky for the Gehlot-led Congress Government in Rajasthan. The State Government got a rude jolt when 13 women died of infected intravenous fluids after child birth. More scandalous, was that the officials woke up after a good 14 days had passed. Not only that. So far only the drug manufacturer and a low-rank Jodhpur drug inspector have been arrested, another two suspended while the bigger fish continue to go scot free. Notwithstanding, the Chief Minister’s assurance that all the perpetrators will be brought to book, even as he announced Rs.5 lakh as compensation to families of the victims. How many deaths does it take for the Administration to realise that something is wrong?

*                                               *                                        *                                               *

Chhattisgarh Winning Literacy War

Amid the Naxal war cry, Chhattisgarh has notched up marks in its battle against illiteracy. Significantly, 32 per cent of the State’s 21 million tribal children have enrolled in primary schools, thus taking the total tribal student count to over 35 per cent. More amazing is that the literacy rate has gone up by 20 per cent in the heart of Maoist country, Dantewada. From 30.17 per cent in 2001, the district’s literacy rate is now set to surpass all other levels in backward areas. Interestingly, while the over-all literacy rate is nearly 65 per cent, efforts are on to reduce the male-female gap, 77.38 per cent and 51.85 per cent, to 10 per cent. Towards that end, two programmes namely Good Parenting Programme and the Sakshar Bharat Scheme are helping motivate youngsters in honing their educational skills. Clearly, the Raman Singh Government needs to be lauded in its silent march for literacy.

*                                               *                                        *                                               *

Courts Spoils Orissa’s Party

The Courts are playing spoiler to the Orissa Government’s over-joy over the release of popular Malkangiri district magistrate Krishna and a junior engineer by the Maoists. In the 1999 Kandhar-type of exchange the State Government had brokered a swap deal whereby six dreaded Maoists would be released in lieu of Krishna and the engineer. Keeping its word, the Naveen Patnaik Government released one Naxal who was granted bail by a fast track Court in a 2007 case. However, an Additional District Judge rejected his release, in another case of 2005. The terrorist now intends moving the High Court. Complicating matters further, another Maoists leader has refused bail demanding that the 700-odd jailed tribals too be released. All eyes are on the Naxals next move.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)